“Squash’s Invincible Khan's”
Squash was developed back in the late fifteenth century. Even though the origin of the game is traced back to France, it advanced in England, United Kingdom. Dubbed as the ‘Wimbledon’ of squash, the British Squash Open title was kept away from the British for a long period. The ‘Khan’s’ of squash changed the game forever.
Former squash player and legend “Hashim Khan” hails from Peshawar, Pakistan. Khan’s father worked at a sports club in Peshawar as the head steward during the British rule. Hashim served as an un-paid ball boy at a very young age. The little boy, along with the rest of the ball boys, would take charge of the court as soon as the officers would leave.
In 1944, after serving as a coach for two years at the British Air Force officers' mess, Khan won the first ever All-India Squash Championship. Apart from holding on to his title for two years, Khan won the first ever Pakistan Squash Championship after partition in 1949.
Hashim flew out to the United Kingdom in 1951 to participate in the British Open. Khan came out victorious in his first ever British Open final by defeating Egypt’s Mahmoud Karim 9-5, 9-0 and 9-0. The legend remained unbeaten as he held on to his title for six more years. In the year 1958, Hashim Khan defeated his younger brother Azam Khan 9-7, 6-9, 9-6 and 9-7 to win his 7th consecutive British Open title. Hashim also has 1 U.S. Open title along with 3 Canadian Open titles to his name.
After Hashim’s 1951 British Open win, he personally started training his sibling Azam Khan. Azam picked up the game very quickly under his elder brother’s guidance. The brothers faced each other in the 1954 British Open final which Hashim ended up winning.
In 1955, Azam came up against Hashim in another final at the British Open. However, Hashim proved unbeatable yet again. Three years down the line, the brothers opposed each other for the very last time. Nevertheless, Azam was incapable of beating his mentor and brother this time around as well. Azam however, has bagged 4 British Open wins in his professional career.
Renowned squash professional Jahangir Khan was undoubtedly the “King” of the game. The former world no. 1 made appearances in twenty squash Championships, inclusive of the World Open and the British Open. Jahangir won sixteen of the Championship finals that he played. Between the years 1981 till 1986, Khan remained unbeatable.
Jahangir played 555 consecutive matches only to make history with the longest winning streak in the game. He also stood the longest unbeaten player by any athlete in professional sports. Khan was coached by 1957 British Open Champion Roshan Khan, his father. He went on to be coached by his cousin Rehmat Khan who guided him for the years to come.
In 1981, the athlete defeated Australia’s Geoff Hunt 7–9, 9–1, 9–2, 9–2, to win his first Squash World Open title. Khan beat fellow countryman Jansher Khan in his last ever British Open final back in 1991. Jansher was defeated 2–9, 9–4, 9–4 and 9–0.
Commonly known as “The Punisher”; Pakistan produced another beyond-brilliant professional squash player in the late 1980’s. The player to have threatened Jahangir Khan’s reign was none other than Jansher Khan who also hailed to Peshawar.
Jansher went professional in 1986. He also won the Junior Squash Championship that year. Mohib-Ullah Khan’s younger sibling, Jansher played 9 British Open finals and 9 World Open finals out of which, he won 6 British Open Championships and 8 World Open Championships. Khan won his first World Open by defeating Australia’s Chris Dittmar 9–5, 9–4, 4–9 and 9–6 in the year 1987. The sportsman’s last British Open win came in the year 1997. This was when England’s Peter Nicol was annihilated with a score of 17–15, 9–15, 15–12, 8–15, and 15–8 after putting up a fight in the final.
Khan remained world no. 1 for more than six years. However, in 2001, he announced his official retirement from the sport. Jansher has taken over 99 titles in his career and is known to be one of the greatest squash professionals of all time.
The Khan’s of today, inclusive of Azam Khan’s granddaughter, Carla Khan are excelling in the game. They say that the Khan’s will be around for as long as squash is around. One has no reason to believe that they won’t.
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